Kansas education official responds to GOP resolution

Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker takes issue with contention that the standards were adopted without meaningful input from parents, teachers and other taxpayers, will impose burdensome testing requirements and will require the sharing of massive amounts of personal student data.

A top Kansas educator said she’s sending a “friendly” letter to the state Republican Party to correct what she and other education leaders believe is misinformation about the Common Core standards for reading and math.

The letter from Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker will be in response to a resolution adopted by the Kansas GOP state committee last weekend calling for the state to withdraw from the standards.

The standards, adopted in 45 states and the District of Columbia, are intended to raise academic expectations so students will be prepared for either college or the workforce by the time they graduate from high school.

The Republican resolution says Common Core “implicates the states in an unconstitutional and illegal transfer of power to the federal government and private interests.”

were adopted in Kansas without meaningful input from the state’s parents, teachers and other taxpayers; will impose burdensome new testing requirements, and will require collection and sharing of massive amounts of personal student data.